3 Sarah (2/2)

”What should I do?” I asked.

”Do not trust them, they would do anything to make you oblivious.”

Before I could ask what she meant or who she was referring to, I woke up in what seemed to be Aliya's room. I suddenly jumped as the bell rang, who knows how long I was in this deep sleep. With much curiosity to know who this person could have been, I went where I could hear the noises and whispers.

In the living room, I saw a gentleman in a suit seated on a wooden chair. He reminded me of those TV characters in crime series, he was flipping through a stack of papers and read them in a schematic way. He seemed to stop for a moment, a split second as he peeked at me and said, ”good morning Miss Wilson, I did not think you would have honoured us with your presence today.”

I approached the sofa where Aliya and Robert were sitting in front of him, ”excuse me sir, who are you?” I asked.

”My name is Jeremy Ross. I am here to talk about your mother's will.”

There was an intense moment of silence, until his hand gave a sign to Aliya, a gesture which made her understand it was time to go, and while taking away Robert with her, I could sense as if she was stepping away with great reluctance.

Once we were alone, he started telling me what the documents were about. He gave me the details of my mother's last wish, how she wanted to be cremated at the beach, not a place designed lightly but one full of remembrance, where both her and my father met for the first time. She had also left me with a great sum of money in my new bank account, the house in which we lived was now in my name. I was shocked, I did not know how to react, and after all, how would you react in such cases.

”The most important is the sealed letter she left, which should be given to her legitimate heir, as she stated in the will,” he said.

While my hands were shaking, I gathered all the courage I had and took the letter from his hand, tormented by the idea of what I should have done with it.

”Should I open it?” I asked.

”Do you want to know the last words she wanted to tell you? Then by all means, yes. However, it shall not be opened before her birthday.”

”It means in January.”

”Indeed, but those are her wishes,” he said.

Even when Mr Ross told me all I could know, this is all I could think of all day. Do I really want to know what she wrote? What she intended to tell me but was not capable in person? During her last month, she was barely herself, she could have written anything inside it, or I could have left the letter and recalled her as the loving mother she was.